This  morning at 4:30, the Imam started singing right in my ear, calling all good Muslims to prayer. Nyla and I both woke up and I told her that if I were Muslim, I would have to make sure my bed was pointed toward Mecca so I could just pray right from my bed... I would not make a very good Muslim.

Last night, we were served Nyla's favorite "kam geda" which is a thick doughy paste of manioc flour and water. The sauce with it was beef with lentils and okra, so it was nice and stretchy (slimy!). Nyla was in heaven as you can see. The church has been feeding us our meals this week and the food has truly been outstanding!

Not sure if I mentioned, but Nyla and I joined Jim Noss and Hans Os (Global Health representative) for dinner at "Le Meilleur" restaurant. The owners are friends of Nyla's parents and they welcomed us warmly. The food was outstanding and we had a wonderful night re-telling some of the funny stories from our early years in Cameroon.

It is mango season here and the mangos are delicious! As is always the case in mango season, there are mangos all over the ground under the mango trees and the slightly sour smell of fermenting mangos is all around. It is strange for both Nyla and me to smell these familiar smells! In fact, there is so much that feels familiar to us. We both feel like it is the most natural thing in the world to be here. Odd since it has been over 20 years since either of us were last here. I guess it is in our blood.

We continue to attend church meetings through Sunday and then hope to get over to Meiganga and Garoua Boulai on Monday/Tuesday before we must return home. Still no sign of our luggage (the bags we sent on the train from Yaounde due to weight restrictions on  the SIL plane), so hopefully it too arrives before we have to head back.

Last night when Nyla and I were returning from the meetings, we had no flashlight and found ourselves walking under mango trees. As kids, we learned that one should never ever walk beneath a mango tree at night because snakes like mango trees and sometimes fall out of them - potentially landing on you if you happen to be strolling underneath the tree. As kids, we would always shine our lights up into the tree to make sure there were no snakes before proceeding to walk underneath. Nyla was feeling nervous last night about the possibility of snakes and I said that we were on the mission station and it was only 8pm so I'm sure there are no snakes out yet... Later on that evening, we ran into Jim Noss who told us that, indeed, he had spotted a snake just minutes after we passed under that particular tree! Now I'm never going to get Nyla to calm down :)

I should also mention that Erika spent two hours singing with some friends of Christian's yesterday evening. She felt "Swing Low" was there best number and it sounded like a lot of fun was had.

Here are some additional pictures:

 The trees are heavy with mangos!

A closer look at the kam geda...